Charter rates for Capesize ships that carry iron ore slid for an eighth session amid speculation demand is slowing in China, the world’s biggest importer of the steelmaking raw material.

Daily average hire costs for the vessels, each able to haul more than 150,000 metric tons of cargo, slid 0.3 percent to $4,205, figures from the Baltic Exchange in London showed today. The Baltic Dry Index, a wider measure of commodity freight rates, declined 0.7 percent to 879, also weighed down by the biggest retreat since December for smaller Panamax vessels.

Manufacturing in China is expanding at a slower pace this month on weakness in global and domestic demand, fueling concern growth is faltering in the nation accounting for 65 percent of all iron-ore cargoes. Yesterday’s preliminary reading of 50.5 for a Purchasing Managers’ Index released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics compared with March’s final 51.6.

“Capesize earnings are still weak,” said Dominic Meredith Hardy, an analyst at Galbraith’s Ltd., a London-based shipbroker. “This is largely due to softening demand for iron ore from China. There are plenty of ships. I haven’t seen many Capesize iron-ore fixtures this week.”

Daily average returns for Panamaxes, about half the size of Capesizes, declined 2.3 percent to $9,310, according to the exchange. Supramax ships that each transport about 50,000 tons advanced 0.2 percent to $9,458 and Handysizes, the smallest vessels tracked by the index, rose 0.4 percent to $8,026.